July 2006: state of the project and reflections (en)

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Jaume Ferrer i David Gómez
TAG Taller d'Intangibles
July 2006

translation: Oscar Nogueras

Contingut

1 Metaphor and concept
- 1.1 Conceptual Baggage
2 Socio-tech resources
3 Authorship, rights and licenses
4 Exploration and design
5 bio: visual complement
6 Contrast

[edita] Metaphor and concept

The metaphor of the sprouter (“germinador” in catalan) is in the same genesis of this project. The fact of collecting ideas that come across when developing an artistic proposal, combined with the one of adapting a strategy of exploration, design and contrast starts to structure and shape itself when we begin to consider it as a "Sprouter". Metaphors (explaining/understanding one thing in terms of another) help us to think. To enlarge our view and our possibilities of interpretation. To provide our actions with meaning and to direct them. In interactive systems design, metaphors are used for contextualizing elements and thus for shortening users’ learning time. But metaphors are also constrained, and we could get trapped within. When this is the case, a changing of metaphor could be releasing; we could see things from a different point of view and others proposals and solutions may also come up.

Understanding this process of exploration, design and contrast on proposals of collective creation as a container to place seeds to be sprouted has helped us to organize our work and also, the structure of the wiki contents. But we have also taken into account the limits the metaphor could involve and the possible solutions springing out of them.

We have "harvested" our own works as seeds. Completed or incompleted projects, prototypes, ideas about systems of collective creation that came up in a certain moment. Also gathered in are those systems and proposals we knew from other people and others we have come across. Out of these "seeds" we have "sprouted" (both us and the participants in contrast activities) new proposals that bring about variations, hybridizations or developements. But we have also carried out new proposals, such is the case of the"Argila (Clay)" where we started off with previous reflections and discussions but without having a clear seed to be sprouted. We happened to be trapped in the problem of fitting it into the metaphor. We opted to consider it a seed. Thus, seeds are not only things that we find "on the path" any more, we have ended up admitting that they can also be things that we "synthesize" by means of different elements that on themselves are not capable of being used as seeds.

Soon we also realised that we wanted to get some new sprouts out of those sprouted. The metaphor of the sprouter seemed to be shattering. If we clung on the biologic referent, a sprout would not be a seed; the seed-sprouted model seemed to be limiting us to only one sprout per seed. And this is not what we need! The idea of genetic variations would surely be a more interesting referent. Out of mutations and crossbreeds among collected proposals we obtain new ones. But on a practice basis, the metaphor can still be valid. It is from the seeds that we extract new sprouts and these can keep on growing (the proposal being defined/developed) or rather spring up new seeds that will also be sprouted. As it is an irrelevant step for the project, we make an ellipsis on the narration and instead of blossoming a fruit and seeds of a sprout, we will consider them as seed "from the point of view" of the proposal that sprouts from them. This way, out of every sprout we consider some seeds that can be a sprout themselves. The biologic referent is a platform through which we modify the laws as long as the metaphor holds on.

Narrative Ellipsis: out of a seed a tree grows and produces several seeds through which other trees may grow. The ellipsis avoids middle stages, out of a seed some sprouts may come up being equivalent to other seeds.

Twisting the metaphora: out of a seed there come out many sprouts, some sprouts come out from several seeds, for a sprout, another sprout is a seed on which start off again

Another challenge for the seed-sprout couple is when we come across proposals capable of being considered sprouts of a seed but they are not from this within the framework of the project. An example could be the Stone SouperComputer regarding the seed Stone Soup. It stems from the tale Stone Soup but not as we have described it as a seed in the project. By means of cases like this, we understand the seeds and the sprouts as such referring to the process of the Germinador project and not because of any "essential" feature of the proposals. With the classification between seeds and sprouts we do not try to draw a genealogy among the proposals but to difference them into the ones "harvested" and those "sprouted" through them within the framework of the project. The Stone SouperComputer remains, then, as another seed.

A question mark hung over the fact if other ways of classification will be needed, not to substitute the seeds-sprouts one, but to complement it in understanding the project and the proposals as a whole. In any case, the Germinador metaphor provides the project with identity and a clear and useful way of organization of the contents to work on them.

[edita] Conceptual Baggage

Apart from the above mentioned metaphor, there are other concepts that constitute the baggage and tools of action in this process:

the practice of the ready-made is used for describing what we do in defining something as a seed. Even if it is an "object" that comes from an artistic context, we understand that in placing it in the Germinador it is re-contextualized, giving way to new interpretations and creative discussions leading to new proposals. Twisting the expression a bit beyond the Duchampian conception and taking it into a context not of objects but of "systems", this is used in some workshops as invitation to propose changes of use and appropriations.
the practice of the Hack or hacking that is to say "understanding how something works " or how "to modify them in order to improve them or change their use " is also a key concept for us. A ready-made can be made into a system (re-contextualization, re-interpretation, change of use) or a hack (modification). This distinction is used to stimulate the generation of proposals in one or others ways.
We understand the proposals as socio-tech systems. This means that we do not separate the "cultural artefacts" from social dynamics that stem from them, that model them and on which they exert their influence. When we are using a technologic tool we are triggering with it a whole series of actors that have contributed to its construction. And at the same time, with our appropriation of this socio-tech assemblage, with our way of using it making use of our previous notions and prejudices we are transforming it (as it transforms us).
the social plastic or sculpture (like an appropriation and actualization of the conception Joseph Beuys provided) is part of our imaginary in interpreting the process that we are living and especially the activities of contrast and the politic dimension of the project.

[edita] Socio-tech resources

capture of the cover of the Germinador wiki. June 2006

The main resource of work of the project is the GERMINADOR wiki. Apart from this, we have the web of the project at enlloc.org; we use Flickr to publish the photographs; we make use of a mail list; apart from 'machines such as computers, photo and video cameras; or receptacles, the sprouters themselves or the recipient where we have planted the sprouts.

The GERMINADOR wiki uses MediaWiki software developed by Wikipedia but as a free software, it is used by a great number of projects. We have made use of this same software ourselves for several purposes (netartwiki, approach to net.art, wiki QR, ...). In their adaptation as a resource for the project, we have employed features thought for an encyclopaedia, for a different objective. With the categories that create automatic lists of pages identified by a text tag, we have grouped seeds and sprouts, as well as language pages or pages waiting to be translated. In fact, we have created our own complete organization to manage a wiki in three languages, different from Wikipedia that recourses to separate the languages in different installations of the software. Templates have been recursively used so as to allow adding contents from one page to another (passing on parameters if necessary) and to define their layout. Especially, they have been used for the cards of seeds where the fill-in space in the fields is very simple avoiding layout matters that are fixed through the template. Also they are used for the sprouts, the licenses or the linguistic links among pages and their translations. We have applied the possibility of defining our own HTML tags, thus we are able to identify the quotations. The possibilities of doing the layout, the insertion of images and layout of the pages of the wiki is something we have been learning about during these months. Basically by reading the explanations of mediawiki.org and by studying the examples already working in Wikipedia. In fact, the same MediaWiki is a seed of the project and at the same time a socio-tech system into which we are immersed. Most of the initial work had to do with defining the way of organizing the contents and with creating the help pages and support to possible contributors. In order to do so, as reference we took other projects using the same system and adapting it to the features of our own.

At the beginning we thought of the enlloc.org/germinador web as something quite dynamic, the tip of the iceberg showing the activity of the project. During the first months we got stuck in trying to extract data from the wiki to be displayed in this page. And in fact, the cover of the wiki has fulfilled this objective of showing the evolution of the work. The web at enlloc remained then as a static cover with a little monthly update of the number of proposals collected. But lately we have added more links to the page, inserted images of the repository of flickr that are updated and carried out some tests to extract contents from the wiki that we may end up using in the future.

The GERMINADOR wiki features to load images that are registered in its data base and also shows remote images through deep reference. But soon we realised that it was non-sense to load all the photos we were doing in the wiki. The Germinador project needs a repository where photos can be uploaded for later use or not, to modigy or re-frame them. We have opted for flickr. Initially we did not really like it because it is a service that concentrates many resources of internet in corporative hands (at present, it belongs to Yahoo). However, some of the characteristics (the possibility of tagging, creation of groups, creative common licences to choose ...) were quite useful and at the same time, this was not a critical resource for the project. Up to now, two groups have been created at Flickr, one is called "germinador" and gathers pictures of seeds and sprouts. The other is called "projecte Germinador" and gathers photos of activities and graphic material. The fact of Flickr having public groups makes it easier for other people to upload their own pictures.

Another socio-tech resource of the project is the mailing list through which we regularly inform of the project developing to that people who are interested. In spite of being configured for allowing all members to write to each other, so far it has only fulfilled this informative function.

Both the mailing list and the server where the wiki is installed are part of the support the l'Institut Universitari de l'Audiovisual of the UPF grants the project. The server features an Ubuntu distribution of GNU/Linux as operating system. It is a virtual server, this means that it is a partition that uses one or several computers, shared by other virtual servers devoted to other projects sponsored by IUA. The security and updating management is common to all virtual servers and it is provided by the computer service of the university. This situation is very useful for us since it makes us forget about some system administration tasks that exceed our knowledge and possibilities of dedication, provided that there is not any kind of restriction to install and configure the software in the server.

The dates of dedication to the project have also matched up with our definitive turn to use GNU/Linux as usual operating system (using Windows or MacOS for some specific tasks). Our "policy" for free software dates back from three years ago and it has been evidenced in the licenses of the code we have written, in the use of some software and in the decisions on the formats to be used. But the definitive change to a free operating system has been more recent. This has implied the familiarization with the features of the system itself, some difficulties and the discovery of new software (with the advantages or disadvantages regarding the ones we had used before) to work with texts, graphics, web or programming.

To sprout the seeds we bought two kitchen sprouters. The criteria to choose them were mainly aesthetics, thinking in the pictures that we had to take. But due to difficulties in delivery, we happened to receive two very different models. It was quite difficult to find shops selling them (we popped in iron mongers, bazaars, dietetics shops...) and the ones we found were not really what we were looking for. Eventually, we opted for online shopping. The available models are imported and produced by companies of Northern European countries.

[edita] Authorship, rights and licenses

We are determined to pay attention to the regulation of rights of reproduction, distribution, explicit or implicit modififation in the proposals collected and generated in the project. In order to do so, we have included a field in the cards of the seeds indicating the license. Although many times it is not specified or it is not different from that of the software used and the proposal itself.

We have also included in the wiki a list of licenses with a brief explanation and we have created the ways (by means of templates) in order to make a reference or link them from anywhere in the wiki. This is a document that can be completed and improved but it provides us with information that we have not found together or under a copyleft licence in some other places. Thus, this could be a contribution beyond the project, since it can be useful to other people who would like to link, contribute or reproduce any content (respecting the terms of GFDL).

Also we have started to think about some questions related to rights of authorship and reproduction; both in the legal aspect and in the authorship that a collective work implies. This is a path that has to be studied in detail in this or other projects.

Regarding the generated contents, the wiki contents are under GFDL by default. In this decision lies the fact that this is a licence that apart from allowing reproduction (independently of the purpose), it permits the creation of works derived from them under the same conditions. At first, this would guarantee that the material that is generated is susceptible of being exploited by other people. In spite of GFDL affecting the text and the images, perhaps it is not that clear that this has any effect on the proposals themselves, understood as fuctional works. An aspect that we may have to pay attention to is this distinction between functional and non-functional or "artistic" works. And to the paradoxes and contradictions coming up in their boundaries.

Another reason to backup the GFDL licence is that this is taken by Wikipedia so guaranteeing their compatibility. This way we did guarantee the transfer of contents generated in the project to the Wikipedia and other projects under the same license.

But not all contents in the GERMINADOR wiki are GFDL. Some literal quotations are not. This is why we differentiate this by tagging the source text differently. We recourse to the right of quote in order to reproduce them at the same time considering that any content displayed as quote is by default property of its author and ruled by the original source license (that we always try to mention). Also different licences can be found in those images which are not registered in the data base and that are shown through deep references.

[edita] Exploration and design

In the moment of writing this text, there are about thirty something identified and documented seeds. Apart from a page of exploration ("potser llavors" meaning maybe seeds) we thought necessary to include possible seeds and different things we take into account.

As we have said before, most of the seeds are projects or proposals. Among, Wikipool stands out, a programme we created in 2003 thinking about online happenings. It allows several connected people to work together in the same composition, adding texts or images. We have generated several sprouts of Wikipool where we propose improvements or changes in their characteristics. We have also made the necessary modifications to the code for this process to be free software under GPL license. It is left writing some sprouts which hybridize Wikipool with Casual, an idea that appeared in the interview with its author, Jaume Nualart.

In collecting previous proposals to the project there are activities carried out as workshops such as REN or tree of texts (Lluvia, árbol de textos, Árbol de textos). A project that was presented publicly as Balconies which say.... A programme (or prototype) such as the VAT that instead of being a proposal of collective creation, it would be a resource for any kind of creation system having a tree structure. Or simple resumed proposals such as Vota6, a proposal of a voting system in synchroneous collaboration, out of which we have taken a sprout that is applied to Wikipool.

Within the framework of the project a proposal called Clay has been generated, and as we have already said, we took it as a seed after doubting whether to list it among the sprouts. "Argila" poses a challange: to develop a system of collective creation capable of being completely modified by the participants; a fact that at first sight may seem to affect its integrity and continuity. This proposal has been object of discussion among us (a part of it can be found in the discussion page of the proposal) and also about the finds with Roc Parés and Jaume Nualart. Po.LL.E.Co (a system for creating a list of things together) is also a proposal generated from the scratch that we have considered as seed and out of which we have created a prototype that has been tested within different contexts. Another proposal included as seed is Collective narration, in fact a generic proposal that gathers several proposals with common elements and that deals with describing the different solutions that may emerge.

Seeds are also a series of projects framed under net.art and/or net experimental creation that we have been paying attention to for quite a long time (COiNTEL (L), Glyphiti (L), Gridcosm (L), Impulse Freak (L), HyGrid (L), OPEN Studio (L), Communimage (L), David Still (L)). As well as others we have come across recently (Omisa (L), Bubblr (L), Casual (L)). Also the same MediaWiki software we make use for the project is considered as seed.

Also seeds have been understood of some activities of collective creation that we have described systematically. Among them, there is the procedure of the writers of black novel to create the novel "The Floating Admiral", the procedure by which the natives from Granada take part in the flower offering to the Virgen de las Angustias and how a stone soup is brewed in the traditional tale. It is about activities that apparently are not considered as a technologic system but capable of bringing one about.

From the workshops and activities of contrast some proposals that may be considered seeds or sprouts have stemed. Out of those generated in the workshop of UOC we have already included some, and of the workshop in Girona we have created a list and the review is left to be done of those proposals produced through the net.art subject of Elisava.

At present there is approximately half of sprouts regarding the seeds. There are several possibilities of sprouting open and this is a part of the project that we would like to focus on from now on. The seeds are described by means of a form with a version as regards to what is software and another which is simplified as regards to what is not. This form is usually completed with other elements. But in the case of the sprouts, the way of explaining them is a key question. We opted for a more open layout; there is not a card like in the case of the seeds. We have started to use some techniques to complement the written display of the proposal, such as the simulation of interfaces or the description of interaction scenarios. We have also wanted to use charts, diagrams or pseudocode. In any case, this is also an aspect to be developed and worked on from now on.

[edita] bio: visual complement

The pictures of the sprouters and sprouts reinforce the identity of the project and also complement them visually providing a graphic identity to the proposals (every proposal is assigned a picture of a seed or a sprout). From the very first moment we have thought that facing the referent that we use to build the metaphor that organizes the whole process may be interesting as an experience and as an element of reflection.

To find seeds has not been difficult. In the garden, the mountain, or in the streets of the city. In the stones of fruits, the pulses of the shops or of the farming cooperative. We are surrounded by seeds! This collection has generated some short stories that we have written in the wiki. We decided to take photos of the seeds against a white background, to load the photos in the wiki in 72x72 pixels and to publish them in a gallery in a specific page. For every seed we create an article where we try to identify the spieces, comment some features and explain where it was taken from. For the sprouts we use the same image size, and also we have a page to show them in a gallery but we are free as regards to framing and background.

Pulses and cereals sprout properly in the kitchen sprouter (and that is why it is like this). But it is more difficult with the trees. Of a group of seeds collected in the garden of sculptures of the Miró Foundation, there was only one which sprouted very similar than one of a tree. Trasplanted in soil, it is growing step by step and regularly we take pictures of it which are published in the wiki with a short comment.

We have some doubts to identify some seeds and plants. That is why we have created a page that is called "Identificar bios" (meaning identifying bios) where we gather those questionable cases (wishing somebody could help us). We have also consulted the forums of the community "infojardín" and got very useful reponse.

Also, we make use of grup "germinador" de Flickr as a repository of original photos and we have created a page ("Enviar fotos" meaning Send photos) where it is explained how to do it for those willing to contribute.

[edita] Contrast

Due to observation and our own experience we think that the situations involved when working together on a work or an event bring about a peculiar stimulus of personal creativity that cannot be separated from the process of interaction with the contributions and the communication with others. Suitable for many of the proposals collected in this project, this is also true for the project itslef. The activities of contrast seek the exchange of ideas with other people and the fact of favouring situations capable of generating new proposals. Taking again a metaphor of the plant world we could talk about "cross pollination" to make diversification easier.

Up to now the activites of contrast have been above all the workshops and interviews with the contributors. We have carried out 2 workshops strictly speaking, one with UOC and another one with IGAC and “Sales Municipals” (city exhibitions halls) of Girona. Also, part of the academic activity of the net.art subject of the Advanced Degree in Design of Elisava has been linked to the dynamics of this project.

Both in the workshop in Girona and in Elisava’s we carried out an activity called “hacking the bottle” that is used for us to present some key concepts. The idea underlying this activity that has allowed us to favour an open attitude regarding the generation of proposals is that the appropriation of something (an everyday object such as a plastic bottle) can be used as a starting point to produce proposals of change of use (ready-made) and modification (hack).

One of the approaches we had regarding the project is that we could link some activities we were already doing and that this could be done easily, such as with our teaching practice. This has been the case of the workshop "net.art, net collective creation" with students of the Graduat Multimèdia of the UOC carried out in February 2006 and with the subject "net.art" in Elisava, an optional subject of the fourth year during the third term of the course 2005-06. In both cases the project was linked to the academic context and to the objectives to achieve within the framework of determined studies; shared with a participation of the project which did not interfere with the first.

In the net.art workshop in UOC all the work and communication among the participants was on-line. The resources we used were mainly 4: the forums of the Virtual Campus as regarding to discussion, the net.art.wiki as a place of study and comment of the project of collective creation, the text "aproximación al net.art" as reading materials and finally the wiki GERMINADOR as a place to present and discuss the proposals themselves. The first part of this workshop was focused on knowing the systems that give way to collective creation, sharing the experience and discussing some aspects related to authorship, identification of the participants, collective decision making, etc... Then the generation of proposals took place to be contrasted with other participants or to get them involved with their development. This was the part which was more related to the Germinador project and that was carried out with wiki. Some of the proposals that emerged out of this workshop have been included as seeds or sprouts. Among them there is Cara a cara (L) or Dins-Fora (G) that develop in different ways the contributions in a mosaic fashion; ways of organizing collective narration such as Història ARTiculada (L) or Cierta histeria de amor (G); or Artpuntura (L) that places the contributions on a map as a way of planetary therapy.

The workshop in Girona lasted two hours on the 24th of March and was part of the seminars “Estudi de cas: netart 06” as parallel activities to the exhibition of the project Omisa by Ricard Trigo. We started with the "hacking the bottle", then we created groups with the participants of the workshop in order to apply the same idea to the Wikipool system we had presented to them. Before the discussion of the ideas in common, Ricard Trigo introduced us to the robot OMISA highlighting the nature of the work in process, evidencing some reflections that this work had involved and showing the range of possibilities of use and modification that linked it with the workshop. From the team work and the discussion there come up proposals to use Wikipool as a resource to establish a visual dialogue among the groups of people, as a way to define and use a system of signs which are only interpretable by a determined community or as a tool of cooperative work with children. There appeared also some proposals of modification of the software adding the possibility of editing the images online or adding new tools and graphic possibilities; as well as promoting the concept of the use of deep referebce turning it into a tool of intervention online or of the colour values of the images so that they would be used as a base to generate a sound. Also there were some proposals that hybridizate with OMISA such as the one of adding a projector to the robot showing the collective work of those taking part in the Wikipool. All together sprouts outstanding and that may be interesting to keep on developing, steaming from a creative experience of a group of people gathered a spring evening in Girona.

The subject of net.art of Elisava consisted of 9 sessions of 3 hours. We use netartwiki as working environment and the wiki Germinador only for the generation of proposals. This stage started in the last sessions. By means of several features of the systems of collective creation (synchronic/asynchronic, identification/anonymity, decision making system, filtering, etc...) we defined some constrictions and asked the students to generate some proposals having some of them in mind. Then the proposals generated were exchanged adding some new constrictions. On the basis of the ideas emerged in this process the final proposals were created. Both these and those in middle stages are gathered in the wiki. It is quite significant to observe that sharing the same idea of synchronic collaboration, they have the chats as reference but taken to the visual dialogue arena. In general there are many proposals where the collaboration is graphic but also some others based on audio or on the relationship between text and image. A deep review of the material that was generated and its possibilities of future development is still to be done.

There are 2 workshops already scheduled: one on the 15th of September, in the evening, at Centre d'Iniciatives La Quimera (Gràcia, Barcelona) with the hacklab kernelpanic; another on the 26th of September in Premià de Mar with the teachers of the CEIP El Dofí primary school.

The other line of contrast is the interviews with the guests contributors; people from different spheres and careers having some relation with creation and technology with whom we meet to explain them the status of the project and to contrast some proposals together (or to generate some new ones). So far we have made three of these meetings: with Roc Parés, Jaume Nualart and Laia Sadurní. Out of them there have come out some very interesting topics for discussion and also potential proposals. We have created a page for each one in the wiki where some of the notes are being posted and where we would like to schematize some of the ideas that emerged in order to develop them in the future.

With Roc Parés we exchanged some opinions around the proposal Argila (L), from the possibilities of the theoric proposal of a system which is completely modificable in relation to the simile of the work in mud. We also talked about the collective dimension of some works of the Galeria Virtual such as "Babble" or "El Ball del Fanalet". Among other topics, we also commented on the role of the author and the rules of a system regarding the concept of the limit figure common to fractal curves.

In the conversation with Jaume Nualart there come up some proposals of hybridization of systems such as "Wikipool" or "Casual", the importance of modularity in the development of "sproutable" software or the relevant role that may involve the use of the API's as used in "web 2.0" line.

Laia Sadurní commented on the collective dimension of some activities carried out by Rotorrr, especially those performed in the roofs of Barcelona. An interesting topic was the one of the personal implications regarding responsibility and that of the degree of implication of the participants in these actions. We talked about how important that is regarding communitary aspects. Also, about remote team work regarding the intervention we are preparing.

A wider spreading of the project from now own would also trigger a greater contrast of other people through the web. The wiki is ready to employ this and it has been already used by those participating in the workshops for such matters.

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